


The Bad Seeds Grow Crooked

by ornj



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Daddy Issues, F/M, Female Peter Parker, Genderbending, Grooming, Mentor/Protégé, Penny Parker is a normal teenager except shes spiderman, Stream of Consciousness, Tony Stark Has Issues, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unhealthy Relationships, he'd like to be a good person but, i guess, listening to ghosteen made me do it, no, rationalizing shitty behavior, starts out innocent enough, tony stark is not nice, yes she is smart but shes NOT READY FOR THINGS
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:55:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22412848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ornj/pseuds/ornj
Summary: Kittens like to meow. Tony had one when he was a little boy. It cried all night long until he would come and scoop it up. His father always said he shouldn’t show it any attention or else the kitten would begin to rely too heavily on him. But Tony liked the kitten. The kitten needed him. That’s why it cried.Tony can’t remember how the kitten died. But he doesn’t remember having a cat...... Things go differently in the alternate universe where Peter Parker is a girl.
Relationships: Peter Parker/Tony Stark
Comments: 6
Kudos: 57





	The Bad Seeds Grow Crooked

**Author's Note:**

> I have some strong feelings about how young Peter was. Not sure where this fic is going. Just something for me to work on. Tony’s gonna be... uncool :(

Does she know what she’s doing?

The first time this question plagues Tony is in Germany.

He had been so wrapped up in building his team he hadn’t given enough thought to the final addition: Penny Parker. She was his ace in the hole. Or hole in one. Or his gift horse. Or whatever normal all-American phrase Cap would have said to describe the Amazing Spider Man!

Except if Cap knew Tony had enlisted the help of a fourteen year old girl to defeat him in a battle, he probably wouldn’t have said anything at all unless it was to strongly discourage and discredit Tony’s judgement call. None of this would be _necessary_ if Cap hadn’t been so hard headed in the first place!

He’s really trying to keep an eye on the kid but that’s difficult when you’re going toe to toe with your once friends turned enemies. The full picture of her eludes him; he only gets glimpses of red and the sound of her incessantly jovial chatter.

“Jesus Tony, how old is this kid?”

She needs to stop talking. Now. He needs to focus on himself, not the kid.

The kid, the kid, the kid. Does she even know what she’s doing?

She’s having fun! She’s cracking jokes. Her suit is functioning properly and Tony knows better than anyone that Penny Parker is physically the strongest person on the battlefield. Of course she knows what she’s doing. She’s a hero. She was born to do it. Greatness thrust upon her. Mature for her age. Yada yada yada. (All the things he knows he’ll say when somebody asks questions.)

It still scares him shitless when she gets hit so hard it halts the flow of annoying chatter completely. She bounces like a rag doll and it seems like the ground crashes against her instead of the other way around. He gets all clammy and shit. It feels like he’s gonna upchuck the overly expensive airplane food he picked at on his voyage to Germany. He’s never thrown up in the suit before. That would be… pretty exceptionally uncool. And he can’t fight with vomit in his mask. So he has to check on her, just to make sure he doesn’t throw up… since the thought of her getting hurt in a conflict he created sorta makes his insides squirm. Why is he sweating?

“Kid!”

Tony reaches out for her. He’s scared. He’s cold all over and his skin is prickling. Even his ears are ringing.

She jerks under his suit and Tony grimaces when he feels her push back. They’re matched for strength when he’s in the suit. For now. (She’s still growing.) Tony rebuffs her a little harder than necessary.

“It’s me. Okay? Stop. Kid-“

“Oh hey, Mr. Stark, I’m good, I’m cool, hey- it’s all good-“ She babbles breathlessly at him from the ground.

“No. Stay down. You’re done. You hear me? Done.”

The suit is meant to amplify his voice but his throat hurts from yelling nonetheless. He can’t see her expression- the suit he designed protects them both from that. But he’s not sure he’d be able to read her face anyways. They’re strangers and he’s glad of it. He can’t even guess what she’s thinking. They should definitely keep it that way. And now she’s out of the fight, so he doesn’t have to worry about her.

And she’s alive. He didn’t kill her. It’s fine.

What a pesky kid, he thinks to himself, annoyed and relieved by her acquiescence. Tony knows what’s best.

“Yeah. Okay. I’m done. I’m done. Thanks Mr. Stark.”

Her hands reach for her neck. Tony’s already checked out of this interaction so he doesn’t register the motion for a second because his eyes are tracking Wanda in the distance.

“Can’t breathe in this thing…” she mutters.

Tony barks in alarm when he sees her youthful face peering up at him. Sweat has matted the hair to her head. Plain brown eyes look up at him.

She looks too fucking young! What if the others see??

“Don’t! What the hell do you think you’re-“ he exclaims as he yanks the mask right back down over her face. He’s a little rough, but he’s been crouched here with her for too long already. “Never take it off! Ever!”

Her hands dart back to steady herself.

“Oh-okay, Sorry, Sorry! I’m sorry, Mr-“

“Just get out of here kid! I’ll find you.”

“Yes sir-“

He blasts off and angrily attacks Sam. He doesn’t want to hear her wispy little voice apologizing for something that’s his fault. He wants to beat the shit out of Steve for being such an idiot. He needs to get the stupid little kid away from him. He needs to-

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.” He grunts and blasts away.

She’s prompt. “Yes boss?”

“Tell Happy to help Parker when she gets outta here. I don’t want her wandering around Zurich alone.”

“Yes sir.”

There. Now that he has all that boxed and tied up neatly, Tony can rejoin the fray. Fully operational. No distractions.

He still has his team and more importantly, by the end of all this, he’ll have Steve back. As angry as he is at the old timer, Tony knows there’s nothing in the world that could sever their friendship. _Everything will be alright_ , Tony thinks in a flash of uncharacteristic zeal.

That’s when he sees Rhodie plummet.


End file.
